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As the holiday season gets into full swing here in the States, we are wrapping up some private projects, studio designs and renderings for other designers. Everybody likes hand renderings so I will share some of the more interesting rooms we have been working on.

First up is a difficult kitchen space for our good friends in California. This is a stunning house, but with an odd shape to the kitchen which took some clever design to get organized. The designers moved some doors and windows around to get a better spatial flow to the room. We didn’t do much here, other than render the design. Cabinets are SieMatic Classic, in Sterling Grey gloss lacquer.

Next up is a more eclectic design in a very traditional house in South Carolina. The client wanted something darker and more modern in this – again – difficult-shaped kitchen space. We helped add some character to the room by designing a banquette and treating the existing brick wall with a Silestone wainscoting to tie the kitchen finishes and the architecture together. I could completely see myself sipping coffee by the window on a nice spring morning.

This next project was a rendering for a real estate developer in Florida. This is a small kitchen, but using the same care we use on our big design projects. Where prospective home buyers would normally expect a basic digital rendering of the space, we like to think this accessorized and inviting view gives a better impression of the builder’s product.

This next project are renderings for a villa in Hawaii. The designers were looking to update the traditional Japanese-style interior to a more minimalist and clean look, while retaining the incredible inside-outside living that is unique to this climate. First is the great room, with a view to the dining table and sitting area. The kitchen is behind the camera in this view.

The floor here is slate, which continues inside and out seamlessly. The sliding doors are shown here pocketed; there is almost no divider between the outdoors and in. The next view is the bathroom, which has an open arrangement to allow a great view from the bathtub.

The bedroom has a similar set of sliding doors to the outside. The piece on the wall is a Donald Judd-style wall sculpture.

Back to kitchens, here is our third prize winning entry to the Blanco Dream Kitchen contest from this past October. The rules required the fitting of a Blanco sink and faucet (which we use extensively in most of our projects), but otherwise the design and style of one’s entry was completely open for creativity. Our design is a very modern and modest kitchen using grey woods, stainless steel and for the room’s centerpiece, a black Corian custom angled island. Our Ilex Space Array chandelier in black is above the sink/eating area, and this finish ties in to the blackened oak tall cabinets/room divider to the right.

I like how our Blanco project resembles the Hawaii resort above. The lifestyle is not dissimilar, although our space is in a North American urban area; the desire to bring the outdoors in is an almost universal request when designing living spaces today.

The Blanco contest results can be seen in this issue of Blanco’s online magazine Here

The next project is a rendering for our colleagues in California, a kitchen for an industry executive. We worked carefully on the proportions of these upper cabinets as the ceiling is a bit low and we didn’t want to misrepresent the design by making it appear taller than it actually is. Hand rendering of course should be considered an “artist’s impression”, but that doesn’t mean we should not strive for accuracy in the design.

This last project was done earlier in the autumn; a nice big traditional kitchen for our friends again in South Carolina. This is an expertly-tailored space with some very nice door details. Again, another kitchen with a lot of openings and a tricky space to design but I think the room comes together with an exquisite use of vertical proportions and a consistent horizontal datum.

In addition to these residential renderings we have some private kitchens and as usual, kitchen studio projects and other retail spaces on our boards. 2015 has been a busy year here in our new Philadelphia studio. We look forward to some relaxation time this holiday season and continued growth for 2016. Thanks for visiting the blog and please also see our Facebook page Here for photos, travel impressions and general goings-on at Mick Ricereto Interior + Product Design.